Hot Topics:

Steering UMass takes entrepreneur's touch

LOWELL -- Like a wheel without a cart, an idea without a market can only limp so far.

As an entrepreneur in information technology in the idea-rich 1990s, Jack Wilson learned that lesson well, and brought it to his role as University of Massachusetts president for the past seven years.

"One of the overarching things I've tried to do is connect the university to the community and to economic development," Wilson said, sitting down with The Sun to reflect on his time as president. "The leadership we have now at each of the campuses knows from day one that we have to be entrepreneurial."

As Wilson steps aside from his post in June to join the faculty at UMass Lowell as a faculty physicist, he leaves an administration and faculty with a culture to build collaborative relationships with local business leaders for the benefit of UMass students.

He cited $70 million the university generated in technology-transfer income in fiscal 2009, putting UMass eighth nationally and ahead of Harvard University. He said research, too, has dramatically increased during his tenure and was boosted by a fund he created to help faculty develop and push innovative products into the market.

"There are still some faculty members in an ivory-tower mode, but a large part of the faculty is thinking entrepreneurially," he said.

He also highlighted the rapid growth of UMass Online, the university's distance-education program that brings in $50 million a year. The program reaches people who cannot attend school full time or on campus, but want to strengthen their job prospects through additional education.

Advertisement

"We have a responsibility to the people who live in the region, and the industries, to create the work force that businesses need to be successful," he said. "We also have to do the research that is going to create the industries and strengthen them."

The five-campus system is well-positioned to attract the best students nationwide and internationally, he said. International ties he's fostered

expand the pool of students the university attracts. Wilson focused on Africa, as well the China, Germany and India as areas for admissions efforts. He signed a 2008 agreement to make UMass the first foreign university selected to provide online education in China.

"I'd love to have the person who will create the next Cisco here," he said, referring to the global technology giant Cisco Systems Inc.

The entrepreneurial focus has helped UMass through drastic cuts in state aid in recent years, one of the toughest challenges of Wilson's tenure. In the most recent fiscal year, the state provided approximately $400 million, or 14 percent, of the university's $2.9 billion base budget.

Wilson said that as a businessman, you "just have to keep smiling and keep walking."

"I've spent most most of my life working on projects that I really believed in, but I did not have the resources for," he said. "You can't let that stop you. You have to find out what resources you can get."

Wilson said he has maintained strong working relationships with the legislative leadership that determines the state appropriation for UMass. He was encouraged by references to higher education in the first legislative speeches of the year by Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Robert DeLeo last week. Wilson has largely avoided the political squabbles Massachusetts is known for, which he said has been part of a concerted effort to avoid them.

"It is important for a university to operate above the fray of politics as much as it can," he said. "I did not have political baggage, which I believe was an advantage. I was never perceived as a politician running for office."

The Westboro resident has had to raise tuition and fees because of plummeting state aid, but also has increased access to financial aid. The university spends $104 million on financial aid compared to $36 million in fiscal 2003.

"Low fees don't necessarily help all students," he said.

As for advice for his replacement, Wilson said they should spend little time complaining about the decline in state funding, and instead should focus on promoting what UMass offers.

The search for Wilson's replacement could close as soon as Thursday.

"If you are expecting to come and have a nice, quiet, and smooth ride, with a lot of support all the time, you will be disappointed," he said. "I saw UMass as a great university that was not getting the proper recognition. You've got to tell the story that it is a great university. I'm ready to hand off the next baton and cheer on the next person."

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sun. So keep it civil.